


Behind the veil

by Elenduen



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Gift Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Protective Steve Rogers, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, mental manipulation, misuse of magic, not wanda maximoff friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-07-08 02:03:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19861714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenduen/pseuds/Elenduen
Summary: Steve learns that Wanda used her powers on Tony in Sokovia and influenced him into creating Ultron. When he goes to apologise to Tony, he finds that Tony is falling apart with night terrors, hallucinations, and is even sleep walking himself into danger.





	Behind the veil

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShadowsintheClouds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowsintheClouds/gifts).



He’d been in the process of trying to cheer Wanda up. In the three months that had past since Ultron, the Sokovian girl had been struggling with her grief for the loss of her brother, something that all of the team were trying to help her with, well, the new team, Steve and Natasha, since the rest of the founding members were gone. 

Clint had gone back to his family, no one knew where Bruce was, Thor had gone back to Asgard, and Tony had gone back to New York. 

At the time Steve had thought that was for the best, still not being entirely convinced that Tony wasn’t responsible for Ultron, but now, after Wanda’s revelation he knew better.

She’d blurted out that she had invaded Tony’s mind in Strucker’s base in Sokovia, as she sat at the kitchen counter with Steve, sipping at hot chocolate and munching on cookies.

“What did you make him see?” Steve had asked, his voice tight and sick feeling swirling in his stomach, bringing an unpleasant taste into his mouth, making his tongue feel bitter.

Wanda shrugged, “The same as I did for the rest of you, I made him see his worst fear.” She replied, “His was seeing you all dead, being the last one standing,” A cruel smirk twisted her lips, “You blamed him, in the vision I mean. You told him he should have done more and then died in his arms.” 

Steve wasn’t sure what he had said to that, he doubted it had been very polite, as he had bolted for the garage, taking his bike and driving for New York and Stark Tower. 

Having not been to the tower in weeks, the receptionist greeted Steve with surprise as he asked her if Tony was in the building, and was directed to Tony’s office, where the Billionaire was apparently doing the paper work he couldn’t pass off on other people or ignore until Pepper screamed at him and threatened to tie him to his office chair until he’d gotten it done.

“It’s boring Pep, it’s words on sheets of paper, that is soooo last century, dealing with it makes my brain disintegrate!” Tony had whined on one such occasion, as Pepper had literally dragged him by his ear to his office to sign the damn papers and not lose himself in his lab. 

Steve grinned to himself as he took the lift up the building, he supposed he shouldn’t find Tony’s whining so cute, but damn it, Tony looked so adorable when he pouted that it would be like kicking a puppy not to find it cute. Then again everything about Tony was cute, or rather it was attractive. 

Steve didn’t think it was fair that a man should look that attractive. A man shouldn’t have such full, kissable lips, or such wide, doe like eyes that were like pools of chocolate that you just wanted to leap into, nor be able to sport such elaborate facial hair without looking comical. He certainly shouldn’t have an ass that many women would be proud of owning, so curved and rounded that it just begged to be squeezed…

The lift pinged and Steve shook the thoughts from his head. He couldn’t risk walking into Tony’s office sporting a boner, he’d never hear the end of it. 

When he knocked on the door Tony’s tired sounding voice answered and Steve let himself in, pausing in the doorway, taken aback by Tony’s appearance. 

The billionaire looked terrible. His normally olive skin was sallow and pasty, his eyes were sunken into the hollows of his skull and were surrounded by dark circles that looked almost painful. His lips were bloodless and chapped from where he’d obviously been worrying at them, and the weight loss… Tony must have dropped at least twenty pounds if not more and it did not suit him. 

Tony had always had a slim but healthy body mass, enough muscle and fat over his bones in proportion to his height, he’d never been a body builder, he kept himself fit but didn’t spend hours working on it. Now though, his clothes were hanging off his gaunt frame and his bones were painfully visible. 

Tony smiled as he saw Steve and rose to greet him, “Hey Cap, what brings you to my crib?” he asked, making his way around the desk and held out a hand for Steve to take. The Captain did so, taking care not to crush Tony’s fragile looking fingers as he held them in his larger hand, 

“Tony, what happened, are you ill?” he asked, 

“What? No, I’m fine, why would you ask that?” Tony asked, 

Because you look like death warmed up! Was on the tip of Steve’s tongue but he managed to keep from saying it and chose a more tactful approach, “You’ve lost a lot of weight,” Okay, maybe not that tactful.

Tony smiled humourlessly and tried to sound casual, “Yeah, well, you know how it is these days, then camera adds ten pounds and if I’m not careful middle age with start spreading…”

“Tony,”

“I’m fine.” Tony insisted, “I just haven’t been sleeping great is all, it’s nothing, it doesn’t matter.” 

Steve would have pressed him but he had other reasons for being at the tower than to badger Tony about taking care of himself and so let it go for the moment. 

“I uh, I need to apologise to you.” He said as Tony made his way back around his desk and retook his seat, gesturing for Steve to make use of one of the other chairs before the desk,

“For what?” Tony asked genuinely perplexed,

“For blaming you for Ultron.” Steve said, “I thought… well never mind what I thought, I was wrong. Wanda said that she did to you what she did to us, that she made you see… Tony, are you okay?” 

Tony had suddenly gone pale, was panting heavily, and his eyes were huge in his face as he stared at Steve, as if he was not quite seeing him, or was seeing something else. 

“Tony?” Steve tried to reach out for the Billionaire, but Tony pulled back with a yelp, as if he were afraid of being hurt. He clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes tight, whispering to himself as he sucked in harsh breath after harsh breath. It was only thanks to the serum having enhanced his hearing that Steve heard Tony speak at all, and what he heard confused him.

“It isn’t real, it isn’t real, it isn’t real.” Tony was chanting the same thing over and over again as if they were a mantra. 

“Tony what..,” Steve broke off as Tony brought his hands up to cover his ears, keeping his eyes closed tight, desperately his fingers curled into his hair, tugging at it hard enough to hurt his scalp. 

Unable to think of what else to do, Steve got to his feet and rounded his desk, placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder to try and comfort him or something, but the touch sent Tony into even more of a panic, having him throw himself across the office, slamming painfully into a filing cabinet and pushing himself against it so hard that it seemed like he wanted to force his body inside the furniture.

“You… you’re not real.” He said to Steve, his voice broken and choked, 

“What?” 

“You just like the rest, an illusion, it’s not real!” Tony insisted, screwing his eyes shut again as if to deny Steve’s presence all the more, “You’re not real, you’re not here.”

“Tony I am real!” Steve protested,

“No, you’re not Steve, Steve would never…. Steve hates me, the whole team hates me.” 

Steve felt like a knife had been thrust into his heart at Tony’s broken admittance. Was that what he thought, that Steve hated him? When had that happened? Why did he think that? 

Steve snapped himself out of his thoughts and crossed the room, taking hold of Tony firmly, so he couldn’t launch himself in the other direction, “Tony I don’t hate you, I’ve never hated you,”

“Stop it, stop it, stop it!” Tony howled, clawing his own skin, his nails sunk so deep into the flesh that they left deep bloody tracks, alarming Steve into grabbing Tony’s wrists to stop him from doing himself anymore damage.

“Mr Stark?” The secretary called, knocking on the door, 

“We’re fine,” Steve called back, knowing that Tony wouldn’t want anyone to see him like this. He held his breath, praying that she would leave, after a few seconds he looked back to Tony who was staring at him in shock. 

“You’re really here?” He asked in disbelief, “You’re actually here?” 

“Yeah, I’m here, I’m real.” Steve assured him, “And I don’t hate you, I’ve never hated you, why would you even think that?”

Tony let out a laugh that sounded more like a sob, “Because you kept saying it, everyone was.” 

“Tony I’ve never said that.” Steve said, 

“I know, but… it’s so real, so real.” Tony whispered, “The dreams, I keep having them, even when I’m awake and… everyone hates me, blames me, wants me to die.” He looked up at Steve large haunted eyes, “I’m so tired, so tired it hurts, but if I go to sleep then…then the dreams come and it makes everything worse.”

Tony was clearly beyond exhaustion, was only staying on his feet through sheer defiant will at this point, he needed rest, he needed taking care of. 

“Come on,” Steve said decisively, “I’m putting you to bed.” 

“I can’t.” Tony protested, “I have work and…I just told you,”

“Work can wait, and I’ll stay,” Steve promised, “I’ll wake you if you start to have a bad dream.” He paused, “Unless you’d rather I get Pepper…”

“No,” Tony said at once, “She’s not… she’s in Malibu.” At Steve’s frown he went on, “We broke up about two months ago.” 

“Oh.” Steve managed to cover it but couldn’t help but feel elated at Tony’s admission. He’d always thought the Billionaire was off limits because of his relationship with Pepper, but now he was single which meant there was no reason that Steve couldn’t pursue him. Well, none but Tony’s health, which clearly needed addressing. 

Decision made, Steve swept Tony up bridal style and grinned at the indignant noise Tony made at being carried in such a way, striding out of the office and telling the startled Secretary that Tony wasn’t feeling well and was going to bed.

*****

Tony was still only half convinced that this wasn’t some kind of hallucination as Steve carried him to the penthouse, making his way through the redecorated apartment and taking Tony into his bedroom. 

He sat Tony down on his bed and set about turning down the covers and then actually got down on his knees before Tony to take off his shoes for him. Tony flexed his toes as Steve stowed his shoes and began to look around for Tony’s pyjamas, finding a simple vest and a pair of sweat pants for him to change into so he’d be comfortable while he slept.

With shaking fingers Tony fumbled with his tie until Steve’s hands closed over his, “Let me,” He said deftly undoing Tony’s tie and taking it off him, next came his shirt and distress contorted Steve’s face as he beheld Tony’s bared torso. Not because of the arc reactor scarring, he’d seen that before, plenty of times when they were a team. It was the prominence of Tony’s bones and his sunken belly that distressed Steve. 

Feeling exposed in more ways than one, Tony quickly grabbed his vest and pulled it on to cover himself, he flinched as Steve’s hands moved to the sagging waist band of his trousers and batted at the hands with his cheeks flushing, “I can do it.” 

“Go ahead,” Steve said passing Tony the sweat pants and rising up, politely averting his gaze while Tony changed out of his dress pants. Steve took them from him, putting them to one side and gestured for Tony to get into bed. 

Slowly Tony climbed onto the mattress and lay himself down, starting in surprise when Steve actually tucked him in, “Go to sleep,” Steve said, stroking a hand over Tony’s brow, “We can talk after you’ve slept.” 

Tony’s eyelids felt heavy and it was a struggle to keep them open and hold Steve’s gaze, “You’ll stay?” he asked, hating how weak and needy he sounded but unable to stop himself either.

Steve smiled, taking off his jacket and tossing it to one side, he kicked off his trainers and gestured for Tony to scoot over enough for him to get on the bed. He stretched out besides Tony, who was staring at him in surprise, “Do you need a bedtime story?” he gently teased, 

“Bite me Capsicle.” Tony shot back, wriggling around and turning his back on Steve and resolutely ignoring the chuckle that echoed in his ears as he closed his eyes allowing himself to sleep. 

*****

Tony’s eyes were open but glazed as he rose from the bed, Steve was laid out snoring quietly but Tony didn’t see him, he didn’t see his bedroom, or the penthouse at all, what he was seeing was a wasteland of a destroyed, post-apocalyptic world. 

The ground he stepped on was broken, torn up and scorched beneath his feet, the air was thick with dust and ash, the sky an amber haze with the sun trying to burn through the thick layer of ash that was blanketing the earth. 

All around him was ruin and death. Buildings collapsed into piles of rubble with twisted shards of metal sticking up out of the brick like plants stretching up out of the dirt. There were no plants now, they were all burned, every tree, every flower, every blade of grass destroyed. 

Bodies lay on the desolated ground, broken bodies, their limbs twisted the wrong way, their mouths open in silent screams and dried blood staining them as their eyes gazed accusingly at Tony, blaming him, condemning him for not saving them. 

“You did this, it is your fault.” The voice hissed in his ear, “You should have saved them, you should have done more.”

“I did my best.” Tony tried to say, but he couldn’t do it, couldn’t get the words out. His feet carried him over the scorched ground to a deep crater, he stood on the edge looking down into the void that stretched out below him, a vast gauge in the earth, all the way down to the core. He could smell the sulphur, could feel the heat of the magma on his skin, could see the earths molten core way, way beneath him.

“The Earth has an iron core, you are the Iron Man, why don’t you return to where you came from?” 

Tony looked down, his feet balancing on the edge, his body wavering back and forth in the wind,

“Jump,” The voice urged him, “End the suffering, end your life, just let go and end it all.” 

Tony let out a breathy sob, tears rolling down his cheeks. It would be so easy to do as the voice said, to step out and end it all.

Steve hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but the rhythmic sound of Tony’s breathing and the warmth of the bed had lulled him into sleep. He was jolted awake as Friday called out to him. 

“What is it?” He asked, looking down at the empty space where Tony should have been laying, 

“Its Boss, he’s… he needs help, he’s on the edge of the landing pad.” 

On the edge…? Steve bolted out of bed and through the penthouse, running out onto the balcony and the landing pad, his blood running cold when he saw Tony standing right on the edge, his toes actually hanging over the edge and his body swaying back and forth. 

“Tony?” Steve whispered not wanting him to startle him. His heart was pounding and his palms were sweating with fear for Tony’s life. One wrong move here and Tony would plummet to his death. 

Cautiously he approached Tony, hardly daring to breathe as he drew closer and closer, he was just a foot away when Tony stepped out.

“NO!” Steve lunged forward managing to grab hold of Tony by the shoulders as his body began to fall. The momentum brought Steve down onto the ground, landing on his front hard. 

Held in his hands Tony jerked and yelped, “What the hell?” his feet scrabbled at the air and his hands reached up to grab at the landing pad, 

“Hold on, I’ve got you,” Steve said, gritting his teeth, he was fighting gravity and his position was wrong for lifting which made this all the harder, but he had to do it, he had to get Tony back up onto the landing pad. 

“Steve,” Tony cried out, a hand wrapping around Steve’s wrist, “Please!” 

“I’m not gonna let go,” Steve promised straining his muscles, pulling Tony up enough for the Billionaire to get hold of the landing pad, he then wrapped his arms about Tony’s torso and hauled him up and back onto the safety of the pad.

Shaking and panting Steve slumped on his knees with Tony sat besides him, trembling as much as him. 

“Why?” Steve asked, sounding equal parts angry and frightened, “Why would you do that?” he demanded, he grabbed hold of Tony by the shoulders, turning him around so he was facing him, “Why would you throw your life away like that?” 

Tony shook his head, tears rolling his cheeks, “I didn’t,” he sobbed, “I was dreaming, and I saw the end of the world,” 

“You were sleep walking?” Steve asked in disbelief, “You don’t sleep walk.” Tony made terrible sound as if he was choking and hunched in on himself, 

“I’m losing my mind,” he whispered, “I’m going mad.” 

Steve swallowed hard, “You’re not,” He said, “But there is something wrong,” he pulled Tony into an embrace, pressing Tony’s head against his chest, “We’ll figure it out together, I promise.” 

*****

Compound.

Laying in her bed, Wanda’s eyes snapped open and red energy dissipated around her. This had been the most intricate nightmare yet. 

Every night since her Brother’s death Wanda had been reached out with her powers and invading Tony’s mind, plucking his darkest fears out of his subconscious and bringing them to the surface, making them haunt his sleep so that every dream was a nightmare. 

As she grew more accustomed to the intricacies of Tony’s mind she found it easier and easier to manipulate him, prompting his subconscious into causing hallucinations, making him doubt himself, bringing each and every insecurity Tony had to the surface and letting them devour him. 

She smiled in the darkness of her room. Tonight had been the closest she had gotten to pushing Stark over the edge, just a little more and she would succeed in bringing her families murderer down. 

*****

Steve guided Tony back into the penthouse, taking him to the kitchen and switching on the kettle, he rummaged through the pretty much bare cupboards until he found some hot chocolate mix and then set about making them both hot chocolate. 

As he did this, Tony sat silently at the counter, his shoulders pulled up and expression pinched. He looked completely exhausted by everything, as if he had given everything and had nothing else left to sustain himself anymore. 

He flinched when Steve pressed a cup of hot chocolate into his hands and looked up with a frown, “Shouldn’t you be calling for people in white coats, getting me committed or something?” Tony asked, his voice harsh and tone defeated. It was clear that if Steve did this then Tony wouldn’t fight him, wouldn’t stop him at all, the desire to fight had gone out of Tony, he was apathetic, and it was a horrible thing to see. Steve never wanted to see it again. 

“I don’t think you need psychiatry Tony,” He said, taking a seat opposite him, “I don’t think this is mental health.” 

“Then what?” Tony demanded, “I’m hallucinating, sleep walking, if not mental health then what?” He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair, “Friday has already given me a scan, I don’t have a tumour or a blood clot, no brain abnormalities at all. There is no other explanation.” 

Steve sighed heavily, “How long has this been going on?” He asked, “How long have you been dealing with this?” 

Tony shrugged, “I’ve had nightmares since New York, hell, some of them since Afghanistan. Fucking P.T.S.D.”

“But the rest of it, hallucinations, sleep walking, how long has that been going on?” 

“I don’t know, several weeks. Since Ultron I guess.” A mirthless smirk twisted Tony’s lips, “Maybe karma is catching up with me, my guilty conscience is haunting me.” 

“You’re not guilty Tony, I already told you that,” Steve said, “Wanda admitted that she invaded your mind in Sokovia, that she showed you your worst fears and goaded you into making Ultron with the sceptre. 

“That doesn’t mean I’m not guilty,” Tony whispered, “I still did it, I still made the fucking thing,”

“Under duress,” Steve stressed, reaching over the counter and taking Tony’s hands into his own and held them tight, “You are no more responsible for this than Clint is for his actions when Loki was controlling him.” 

“But it isn’t the same,” Tony said, his face tragic as he gazed at Steve, “I knew what I was doing, Clint didn’t, I was in control of my actions.”

“But would you have moved so fast, or used the Mind Stone had you not been frightened by what you saw?” Steve asked, “Would Bruce have turned into Hulk and gone on a rampage through Johannesburg had Wanda not forced the Hulk out and frightened him?” This was the best argument to make as Tony had been fierce in his defence for Bruce’s actions and his innocence in regards to Johannesburg. 

“What Wanda did was wrong,” Steve said, rubbing his thumbs over Tony’s fingers, “And my treatment of you was wrong.” He wouldn’t let Tony cut him off, “It was Tony. I let Thor nearly strangle you, I threw my shield at you. Both of those things could have killed you.” The thought of Tony being dead made his stomach turn over, made his heart clench in fear. Tonight he had come so close to losing Tony, if he had been just a second later then Tony would have fallen and Steve would have see his broken body on the street below. 

The thought of that, of Tony’s body crumpled in a pool of his own blood made Steve shudder. It was all too easy to imagine Tony falling to his death, his body replacing Bucky’s on the train, his face frozen in terror as his hand missed Steve’s and he plunged to his death. 

Steve flinched as Tony’s hands moved beneath his on the kitchen counter and he looked up into sympathetic brown eyes, “It’s okay,” Tony said to him, “You don’t need to beat yourself up about this.” 

“I’m sorry,” Steve whispered, “I promise I will never let you down again,” 

Tony looked at him incredulously, “You just saved my life Cap, you’ve never let me down, I’ve let you down, I let the team down. I should have been stronger, I shouldn’t have let Wanda get control of me like that.”

“Bullshit!” Steve cried, startling Tony by his unusual use of language, “Even Thor couldn’t keep her from messing with him, a demi God, what chance did a base line human have?” For once Tony didn’t have a come back which under other circumstances Steve might have found amusing, but right now he was too concerned with convincing Tony that this wasn’t his fault, and he realized right then that Tony always thought things were his fault, was always ready to insult himself and list what he termed as his character flaws. 

It was done with the same eat shit, devil may care smirk and arrogant swagger as when Tony complimented himself, calling himself a genius, the worlds best playboy, the most handsome avenger etc. But if you looked closely, if you bothered to look at his eyes and study his expressions, then you could see that the swaggering and snark were nothing but a mask that Tony had been maintaining for years. That he hid behind as if it were armour, never showing the true depth of his emotions so that they could not be exploited. 

Steve remembered hearing something about people who were always making jokes or being constantly loud and larger than life. That they were horribly insecure about themselves and were making the jokes first, speaking first and drowning everyone else out so that no one could get the chance to start tearing strips off them. 

The analogy fitted Tony to a T. He was always doing it, had always been doing it and Steve had been just as fooled as everyone else, but his eyes were open now and he could see past the armour to the vulnerable man beneath, a man that needed support and understanding, a man that needed love that didn’t come with judgement, a love that Steve was determined to give him. 

He didn’t realize what he was doing until he was round the other side of the counter and kissing Tony. He heard the Billionaire give a whimper of surprise but he didn’t fight against the kiss, just froze for a moment before leaning into it, leaning into Steve running his hands up his torso. 

They remained like that for a few moments before breaking apart to breathe, they stared at each other in stunned silence. Inevitably it was Tony who broke the silence with a question, 

“How long…?”

“Since New York.” Steve admitted, his cheeks flushing, he gave a wry smile to Tony’s shocked look, “Right after you flew the nuke into the wormhole, it suddenly hit me that I had lost the most interesting person I’d met in this century, someone who made me want to kiss him as well as punch him, someone who turned all my assumptions about him completely upside down, who confused and beguiled me more than anyone ever had.” 

Tony’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “Beguiled you?” he repeated, a grin briefly passing over his lips before he became serious again, “Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“You were with Pepper.” And now you’re not, was left unsaid. 

Tony shook his head and looked down at his lap, “I don’t know what to say,” he admitted, “I thought you hated me, thought you didn’t want anything to do with me, and now you’re telling me that you like me?” 

“I love you.” Steve corrected, reaching out to cup Tony’s chin and lift his face so they were making eye contact again, “I love you Tony, I want to be with you, I want to court you or date you, or whatever the term is,”

A bright hopeful smile crossed Tony’s face, “You wanna date me?” he asked and Steve would have been elated had it not been for the flash of red that shone in Tony’s eyes before retreating and the Billionaire winced and rubbed at his temple.

“Tony!”

“Just an ache, maybe I pulled a muscle..”

“Tony you’re eyes flashed red!” 

Tony froze and stared at Steve in shock. Red eyes, Wanda’s power. This was her doing.

*****

Compound.

Steve called ahead to the Compound, alerting Natasha to the situation regarding Wanda. He didn’t use the open line as he didn’t want to spook the Sokovian, so he called Natasha’s mobile, speaking to her privately. 

Natasha then alerted Sam and Vision, letting them know of Steve’s suspicions regarding Wanda’s treatment of Tony. A detective might well say that the evidence was circumstantial, but, Wanda had a history of mind manipulation and a hatred of Tony Stark, so it was not a huge leap to suppose that she might be carrying out a vendetta against him. 

“Are you sure you are up for this?” Steve asked as he got out of the car with Tony at the compound, Tony looked terrible, his face ashen and his coat hanging off him as he trudged along with Steve, 

“I have to see this through,” He insisted. 

The team were gathered in the common area. Natasha had told Wanda that Steve had a morning training session planned which the Sokovian had believed without hesitation, she didn’t realize anything was wrong until she saw Tony at Steve’s side. 

“The hell is he doing here?” She demanded, leaping to her feet and pointing an accusing finger at Tony. 

“Tony has every right to be here, he is an avenger and he owns the property.” Natasha icily reprimanded the Witch who glowered at Tony. 

For his part Tony held his ground with remarkable strength, not flinching away despite the malice in Wanda’s expression. 

“Why Wanda?” Steve asked her, “What possibly reason could you have for doing this, for torturing Tony like this?”

Wanda sneered at him, not bothering to deny it. “He murdered my family, he deserves to suffer, to feel nothing but pain and misery until it finally destroys him.”

Sam made a choked noise, Natasha remained stoic but her hand was poised ready to draw her gun, Steve looked disappointed in Wanda as well as angry with her. 

“Tony was not responsible for your family’s deaths.” He said to Wanda, “It may have been a bomb with his surname on it, but he didn’t fire it, and many of his weapons were stolen and sold on the black market, which is likely how they came to be used in your countries Civil War. The only person responsible for your parents dying is the person who fired that bomb and that person is not Tony Stark.”

Wanda wouldn’t have it, she shook her head violently, a mask of hatred twisting her features, “That doesn’t mean he’s innocent.”

“None of us are innocents.” Natasha coolly stated, “I am a spy, a thief, a manipulator, a liar, and a murderer. Sam and Steve are soldiers, they’ve both fought in wars and taken lives, they have taken more since then in self-defence and the defence of others, as has Tony. We all have blood on our hands, all have stains on our souls, innocence is something that none of us can boast of, including yourself.”

Wanda tilted her chin defiantly as he met the Black Widows gaze, “I had no choice,”

“You had a choice, you and your brother had a choice.” Sam corrected her, “No one forced you to undergo experiments, you chose to do that. You and he could have done anything with your lives, worked hard, put yourselves through school, become Doctors, or lawyers. Hell you could have climbed into the backs of lorries and gotten out of Sokovia, made a case to be asylum seekers in another country. You did not have to do what you did, so do not pretend that you were without options, maybe not easy ones, but you still had them.”

“What would you know?” Wanda screamed at him, “You, a privileged American, you don’t know what it is to be orphaned, to have nothing. So what if we joined Hydra? We thought it was Shield at first but it didn’t matter. The world and Stark had taken everything from us, so why shouldn’t we take something back?” 

Before any of them could react Wanda was lashing out with her powers but before she could strike Vision was between her and the team, the Mind Stone glowing in his head, absorbing her power. 

“No!” Wanda cried, as Vision lay his hands on her, and his head against hers, drawing the power out of her body and back into the stone. 

Sobbing and shaking, Wanda fell to the ground her powers gone for good. Vision turned to the team, “She will not be any further trouble.” He said, and looked to Tony, “You should heal now, her power will dissipate from your mind and you will be able to rest easy.”

Tony nodded, biting his lips and self-hugging, not quite ready to relaxed just yet, but Steve was by his side, his arm wrapping about Tony’s shoulders, supporting him. 

“I think you should stay here,” He said to Tony, “So that I…. we can take care of you.” His slip did not go unnoticed by Natasha and Sam, both of whom smirked knowingly and Steve knew he’d be in for some serious teasing soon. 

“I’d like that,” Tony said managing a tremulous smile,

“Yeah, why don’t you go and get Tony settled into your bed Cap?” Natasha drawled, emphasising Your Bed and bringing colour to Steve’s cheeks, “You can stare into each others eyes while I call Fury and get him to deal with Maximoff.”

Steve glared at Natasha and ignored Sam’s snorting laughter at his expense in favour of guiding Tony away from them, though he did make a rude gesture behind his back at the wolf whistle which was set their way.

*****

Fury and Maria took Wanda into custody and she was extradited back to Sokovia to face trial for terrorism, as a base line human she was now not a threat to anyone as the Scarlet Witch and no longer had the protection of the Avengers or Tony’s formidable legal team to save her from prosecution. 

Tony stayed at the compound, moving in permanently after a month, into Steve’s room that was. 

The two of them were, as Natasha put it “Tooth rottingly cute together.” 

Tony slowly regained his health. Within ten days of Vision taking away Wanda’s magic the nightmares and hallucinations stopped, save for the natural bad dreams that came up every now and again. 

The reason Steve had seen the flash of red in Tony’s eyes that night had been because he had felt hope at Steve’s declaration of love. Wanda’s spell had trying to prevent him from feeling anything but despair and had flared up when he’d felt hope at Steve’s words.

In order to help himself with his lingering PTSD and other issues Tony devised a system to turn memories into a virtual reality, while he names B.A.R.F and presented it at M.I.T. Shortly thereafter Bucky came in from the cold, finally ready to see Steve and start to heal from his past which B.A.R.F. helped him with. 

With Bucky back and Rhodey in America for the foreseeable future Tony began to reach out to other superheroes to set up a network for big scale attacks like New York. He made alliances with Spider Man, Ant Man and the Wasp. The Black Panther who actually approached the Avengers as the Young King T’Challa was looking to end the isolationism of Wakanda and open the country up to the world. 

The Fantastic Four, The Defenders, and the X-Men all agreed to an alliance in the event of another world threatening danger. 

After two years of dating Steve proposed to Tony and the Billionaire accepted. They were still planning their wedding when Bruce returned to Earth with news of Thanos, via Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. 

They wasted no time in gathering the forces of every superhero on earth so that they were ready when Thanos attacked, however Tony, Steve, Peter, and Strange all ended up on Titan battling Thanos after being taken away by Ebony Maw in Thanos’ ship. 

On Titan they battled the mad Titan himself, distracting and restraining him to try and get the gauntlet off his hand. When it was clear the thing wasn’t coming off easily Tony created a sword blade with his new Nanotech armour and cut off the Titan’s arm, severing him from the gauntlet and infinity stones. 

Thanos roared in pain, flinging Mantis off him and tossing the others aside, Tony included, though he kept tight hold of the severed arm and gauntlet. Steve beat at Thanos with his shield, ramming it into the Titan’s face and chest until Thor appeared via the Bifrost with a new weapon and sliced the Titan’s head clean in two.

After that it was just a matter of dealing with Thanos’ forces on earth, which the united teams were handling and within a day it was all over. 

As they stood on the battle field of Wakanda surveying the damage and helping the clean up, Steve had a brilliant idea. “Why don’t we get married here?”

So they did. Dressed in traditional Wakandan garb, they were wed by a Wakandan priest with every superhero on Earth as witness as they exchanged vows. 

“Do you think anyone will notice if we sneak away before dawn to go on honeymoon for like… the next month or three?” Tony asked conspiringly, 

“Maybe,” Steve said, grinning anyway, “But we should definitely give it a try!”

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, why didn't they just chop Thanos' arm off? Screw trying to get the gauntlet off him, just cut off his arm, no muss no fuss!


End file.
